Method of Using an Augmented Reality Device

ABSTRACT

An augmented reality device may be positioned proximal a user and consist of at least a controller, memory, and at least one screen. After a user is oriented towards a physical location, an augmented reality digital content can be displayed on the at least one screen, the augmented reality digital content positioned at the physical location and displayed on the at least one screen only when the user is facing the physical location.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application makes a claim of domestic priority under 35 U.S.C.§119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/864,850 filed Aug.12, 2013.

SUMMARY

Assorted embodiments can position an augmented reality device proximal auser and consist of at least a controller, memory, and at least onescreen. After a user is oriented towards a physical location, anaugmented reality digital content can be displayed on the at least onescreen, the augmented reality digital content positioned at the physicallocation and displayed on the at least one screen only when the user isfacing the physical location.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block representation of a portion of an example computingsystem configured and operated in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 shows a block representation of an example augmented realitydigital airspace that may be utilized by the computing system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 depicts a block representation of an example augmented realitydigital airspace configured in accordance with assorted embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective block representation of an exampleaugmented reality system constructed and operated in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIG. 5 provides a block representation of of an example augmentedreality device configured in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a block representation of a portion of an example augmentedreality device arranged in accordance with assorted embodiments.

FIG. 7 shows a block representation of an example advertising purchasinglogic utilized by an example augmented reality device in someembodiments.

FIG. 8 conveys an isometric block representation of an example augmentedreality digital airspace configured in accordance with variousembodiments.

FIG. 9 depicts an example augmented reality device interaction logicthat may be carried out in accordance with various embodiments.

FIGS. 10A-10D respectively are perspective view block representations ofan example augmented reality environment in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 11 displays an example advertising algorithm logic capable of beingperformed by an augmented reality device in assorted embodiments.

FIG. 12 is a top view block representation of an example augmentedreality environment in which an augmented reality device can beemployed.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of an example augmented reality interactionroutine that may be carried out in accordance with various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The current disclosure generally relates to an augmented reality systemthat is capable of anchoring digital content to digital airspace havinga particular latitude, longitude, and altitude. The system may furtherhave an augmented reality device that may access the digital content anddigital airspace in various embodiments without limiting the scope ofthose or other possible embodiments.

Progression of computing systems and peripheral devices that utilizecomputing technology towards faster operation, greater capabilities, andsmaller form factors has allowed exclusively digital realities to berendered. Advancement of digital reality creation and control softwarepast gaming consoles and desktop computers has been complemented bymobile computing systems like smart phones, tablets, and wirelesscomputing devices such as wearable glasses and interactive glass thatcan utilize global positioning to provide a digital reality nearlyanywhere in the world.

As mobile computing systems become increasingly ingrained into theeveryday items consumers use, the opportunity exists for an augmentedreality to utilize a combination of real world locations with thecreation and control of digital content. While computing devices capableof correlating actual physical locations with a digital reality aretheoretically possible, the organization and content of the augmentedreality has not been developed. Hence, a mobile computing device thatcan provide access to both an augmented reality as well as the contentand organization of the digital space is a continued industry directionthat is focused on ideally delivering a seamless combination of physicaland augmented realities via an augmented reality device.

Currently, small mobile computing devices are being developed to fit toa user so that the physical world and computer-generated content can beconcurrently viewed. However, the utilization of such simultaneousviewing has been limited to a display that is controlled viaarticulation of buttons and controls on the computing device or througha peripheral remote. While movement of a user's eye has been used tocontrol computing environments in the past, restriction of an augmentedreality to control via eye movements hinders the scope and use of thedigital content of the augmented reality. Thusly, it is the object ofthe present disclosure to provide a device that allows physicalengagement with an augmented reality to optimize the potential ofdigital content correlated with a real-world physical location.

Accordingly, an augmented reality device may be positioned proximal auser and consist of at least a controller, memory, and at least onescreen that is utilized to display augmented reality digital content onthe at least one screen only when the user is facing towards a physicallocation where the augmented reality digital content is positioned. Theaugmented reality digital content can be engaged to purchase a productor service. Such engagement can be recognized by an interaction circuitof the augmented reality device.

The ability to recognize and log physical interactions with digitalairspace allows a diverse variety of digital content to provideconsumer, financial, directional, informational, emergency, andeducational subject matter without erecting physical signage and videoplayback equipment that can clog physically tight and highly traffickedreal-world locations. Additionally, the recognition and logging ofphysical interactions with digital airspace at a specific physicallocation can provide a physical presence to exclusively digital sources,such as eCommerce websites, advertising, digital applications, anddatabases.

While the computing environment in which an augmented reality device canbe practiced is not limited, FIG. 1 generally illustrates an examplecomputing environment 100 that can utilize an augmented reality device102 in accordance with various embodiments. The augmented reality device102 may be configured to be any size, capacity, and computing speed thatcan conduct stand-alone computing operations, like taking pictures, aswell as network operations, like accessing a remote server 104, over awired or wireless network 106 via appropriate protocol. The content ofthe network 106 is unlimited and may comprise at least media contentfrom a publisher 108, remote data storage via a data storage array 110,and digital reality engine 112 that respectively communicate over thenetwork 106 directly and through the server 104.

Through utilization of network 106 content, the augmented reality device102 can send and receive data that allows vast information to beaccessed, viewed, and engaged by a user of the device 102. For instance,signing into a digital location via the augmented reality device 102 cancommence a retrieval of data from multiple remote sources across thenetwork 106 to return news, mail, social media, and secure documents.The ability of the augmented reality device 102 to correlate actual,physical locations on the globe with digital content can further allowfor the production of a digital environment and digital content assignedto that particular physical location.

FIG. 2 coveys a block representation of an example augmented realitydigital airspace 120 in which various amounts and types of augmentedreality digital content can be displayed, engaged, and utilized tocompute real and predicted metrics. The digital airspace 120 has avolume and is anchored at a set of coordinates that correspond with aphysical location on the Earth. While the digital airspace 120 can beany size and position in the world, the non-limiting embodiment shown inFIG. 2 has eight unique coordinates of longitude, latitude, and altitudethat define the airspace's 120 height 122, length 124, and width 126. Itis contemplated that the digital airspace 120 is configured to be anyshape, such as a cone, trapezoid, sphere, parallelogram, and spheroid,which are defined by any number of unique coordinates.

FIG. 3 provides a front view block representation of an exampleaugmented reality digital airspace 130 that can be generated and alteredby an augmented reality device in accordance with assorted embodiments.The digital airspace 130 can be defined by multiple unique coordinateseach comprising a longitude, latitude, and altitude that combine to forma set of coordinates. The digital airspace 130, as shown, but in no waylimiting, can be divided into sub-sections that can individually andcollectively display digital content, such as advertising, information,video, applications, and combinations thereof, which is anchored to theset of coordinates and visible to a user when the user is orientedtowards the physical location defined by the set of coordinates. Thatis, the digital content is positioned in the physical locationregardless of the position and orientation of the user.

For example, a first sub-section 132 can display a statictwo-dimensional or three-dimensional image concurrently while a secondsub-section 134 displays a dynamic image, such as a video or interactiveapplication when a user is facing the physical location defined byunique sets of longitude, latitude, and altitude. It is contemplatedthat third 136 and fourth 138 sub-sections are left blank until theaugmented reality device queues content, such as static or dynamicimages, to the respective sub-sections 136 and 138. In some embodiments,the digital content is resized with a common or dissimilar aspect ratioto accommodate the addition or subtraction of a sub-section from thedigital airspace 130. Other embodiments can position the differentdigital content facing different directions. For instance, the firstsub-section 132 may face downward while the second sub-section 134 facesa first lateral direction and the third sub-section 136 faces a secondlateral direction that is angled 30° to the first lateral direction.

In some embodiments, the digital content is resized with a common ordissimilar aspect ratio to accommodate the addition or subtraction of asub-section from the digital airspace 130. Other embodiments canposition the different digital content facing different directions. Forinstance, the first sub-section 132 may face downward while the secondsub-section 134 faces a first lateral direction and the thirdsub-section 136 faces a second lateral direction that is angled 30° tothe first lateral direction.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view block representation of an exampleaugmented reality environment 140 capable of being produced andcontrolled by the augmented reality device 102 of FIG. 1. Theperspective view of FIG. 2 shows how a screen 142 of an augmentedreality device can be worn, handled, or presented in front of a user toconcurrently provide digital content within the screen 142 and a view ofactual, physical space 144 both beyond and around the objects on thescreen 142. It is contemplated that the augmented reality device can beworn by being physically attached to person, such as via a belt or cliponto glasses, or by being handled by the user, such as via lookingthrough a mobile computing device like a smartphone or laptop.

In some embodiments, the augmented reality device functions in concertwith a remote server to establish the physical space 144 being viewed bya user, the digital airspace corresponding to some or all of thephysical space 144, and the digital content to be shown on the screen142. Such communication with a remote server allows the augmentedreality device to be small in size and computing power as the remoteserver computes and provides the digital content to be displayed on thescreen 142.

It should be noted that the size and scope of the digital content on thescreen 142 is not limited to a particular portion of a user's field ofvision as the digital content may extend throughout the user's field ofvision or be sectioned to predetermined viewing dimensions. The screen142 may alternatively be sized and fit to a user so that the digitalcontent does not obscure all the user's field of vision, such ascovering some of one of the user's eyes while leaving the remaining eyeopen to view the physical space 144. The digital content displayed onthe screen 142 can be anchored to a particular volume of airspacecorresponding to a physical location. The augmented reality device candisplay some, or all, of the digital content relative the orientation ofthe user or screen to the physical location. That is, if a user isoriented towards the physical location, the digital content isdisplayed, but gradually removed as the user moves to become oriented sothat the physical location is not aligned with the user and the screendue to the digital content being invisible to the naked eye.

Although the digital content displayed on the screen 142 is not limitedto a particular size or position, various embodiments configure theaugmented reality device with the capability to render digital contentas a variety of different types of media, such as two-dimensionalimages, three-dimensional images, video, text, executable applications,and customized combinations of the like. Regardless of the type ofdigital content, the correlation of a physical space 144 with digitalairspace in an augmented reality allows for certain digital content tobe tied to a particular location on the globe. As shown in FIG. 4, anonline store can be correlated by the augmented reality device to alongitude, latitude, altitude, and time of the physical space 144 andprovide at least signage 146, goods 148, and services 150 that can beengaged, viewed, and accessed through a variety of different manners.

Assorted embodiments can configure the digital content displayed on thescreen 142 to be engaged through physical interaction with some aspectof a user. That is, the goods 148 and services 150 can appear on thescreen 142 and be engaged by the user to trigger a plethora of differentactivation results. As a non-limiting example, the physical touching ofthe physical space 144 assigned to goods 1 can activate furtherinformation to appear in the digital airspace, the purchase of the goods1 identified in the digital airspace, and removal of the goods 1 iconfrom the screen 142. In other words, the augmented reality device can beconfigured to correlate digital content displayed on a screen orprojected into space with a physical location and subsequently recognizethe physical interaction of a user with that digital content to producea predetermined activation result.

FIG. 5 is a block representation of an example augmented reality device160 constructed and operated in accordance with some embodiments toprovide digital content in manners similar to that shown in FIG. 4. Theaugmented reality device 160 is not limited to the configuration orconstituent components shown in FIG. 5, but can correlate real-worldphysical locations with digital content with at least the componentsdisplayed in FIG. 5. At least one screen 162 can take data from one ormore processors 164 and data storage memories 166 to compute, organize,and render visual digital content in a predetermined manner, such as 2D,3D, interactive, and video.

Each processor 164 and data storage memory 166 can further cooperatewith control 168 and network 170 circuitries to recognize a user'sphysical interaction with the digital content on the screen 162 that isassociated with a particular latitude, longitude, altitude, and time andcommunicate the interaction across a network, such as network 106 ofFIG. 1. The digital content rendered on each screen 162 can becomplemented by a graphical user interface (GUI) 172 that functions tocontrol an operating system 174 to provide the user with options andinterface with how and what the augmented reality device 160 isoperating. The operating system 174, processor 164, memory 166, andnetwork circuitry 170 may access and utilize a global positioning 176aspect of the device 170 to indicate the position of the device 160 andof digital content being engaged in digital airspace.

In various embodiments, the network 170 and/or global positioning 176circuitry consists of one or more Bluetooth, network, or globalpositioning adapters that continuously, sporadically, routinely, andrandomly send local and remote signals to understand where the augmentedreality device 160 is. The global positioning adapter may have a securedconnection and may utilize triangulated satellite signals to allow theprocessor 164 to generate augmented reality digital content accuratelyat a predetermined physical location.

While the augmented reality device 160 may have more, or less,constituent components that provide any number of device 160capabilities, several components may operate individually, concurrently,and sequentially with various aspects of the control circuitry 168 toprovide specific device 160 functions. FIG. 6 is a block representationof an example control circuitry 180 capable of being used in theaugmented reality device 160 of FIG. 5 in assorted embodiments. Muchlike the variety and number of different constituent components that arenot required or limiting in FIG. 5, the control circuitry 180 can beconfigured with a wide array of different hardware and softwarecomponents that can be accessed and utilized independently andsimultaneously to provide various augmented reality device capabilities.

As shown, the control circuitry 180 can comprise any number of differentsensors, such as the proximity 182 and optical 184 sensors like a laseror Bluetooth beacon, that function to provide the logging 186, airspace188, content 190, recognition 192, and purchase software 194 with deviceand user conditions. For example, the sensors 182 and 184, as well as anunlimited variety of other sensing equipment, can detect and return datato a processor and memory of the augmented reality device so thatvarious software applications can utilize the data to provide diversedevice capabilities. The logging software 186 can take data at leastfrom the sensors 182 and 184 to register a plethora of device and useractivity, such as, but not limited to, the movement of the devicerelative to a predetermined area and user interaction with digitalcontent in a digital airspace.

The logging software 186 can operate alone and in conjunction with theairspace software 188 to determine the amount of time and type ofinteraction being conducted on the digital content in the digitalairspace. The digital airspace can be continually, sporadically, androutinely monitored by the airspace software 188 to ensure the digitalcontent is appropriate and properly positioned relative to the user.That is, the airspace software 188 can maintain digital content in theproper space within the digital airspace, such as height above theground and orientation with respect to proximal walls. The airspacesoftware 188 may comprise digital content rendering algorithms thatallow the digital airspace to be illustrated on one or more devicescreens.

The content software 190 can likewise be configured with visual contentrendering capabilities as well as the ability to take data from remotesources, such as a server across a network, to update, change, andremove digital content from the digital airspace. With the contentsoftware 190 handling the generation of digital content in cooperationwith the airspace software 188, the digital content can seamlesslyappear in a predetermined digital airspace despite a user movingrelative to the airspace. In other words, the digital content can beconfigured to appear stationary or pointing towards a user regardless ofthe user's position relative to the digital airspace due to the airspace188 and content 190 software concurrently working to render and positionthe digital content in appropriate locations within the digitalairspace.

Configuring the device with recognition software 192 can further expandthe responsibilities of the airspace 188 and content 190 software as thedigital content is adapted to interaction with recognized physicalactions from the user. As a non-limiting example, a user reachingtowards a physical location in the digital airspace can be recognized bythe recognition software 192 and correspond with the digital contentchanging visually and spatially in response to the user's action. Assuch, the digital content can adapt and respond to the actions of atleast one user to provide comprehensive and interactive media contentthat is especially effective for advertising, educational, andcommercial digital content.

It is noted that the content software 190 can anchor augmented realitydigital content based on the longitude, latitude, and altitudescoordinates that may be purchased by third parties, such as individuals,corporations, organizations, and governments. The size of the digitalairspace, which corresponds to any number of coordinates that arepurchased, can provide one or more different types of digital content.In some embodiments, the control circuitry 180 can generate a coupon,token, or voucher to a user's mobile device upon the recognitionsoftware 192 sensing user's engagement with the digital airspace. Thecontent software 190 may assign augmented reality digital content to twosets of coordinates, such as for two dimensional content, or four setsof coordinates, such as for three dimensional content.

Through coordinate based digital content placement methodology appliedby the control circuitry 180 allows for augmented reality to coincidewith our existing reality by understanding the content's coordinatesproximity to other structures and the user. For example, if a structureseparates the user from the coordinates based on their proximity, thestructure will act as a visual impediment just as it would if thedigital content was a tangible print in our existing reality.

In the event the digital content does provide goods and servicesavailable for purchase, the purchase software 194 can facilitate thetransfer of monetary funds in relation to a physical interaction of theuser and the digital content in the digital airspace. The capabilitiesof the purchase software 194 are unlimited, but some embodimentscommunicate purchasing actions of a user, such as squeezing or rotatinga digital icon within the digital airspace, across a network to beginprocessing of the purchased order, verification of funds, and logisticsinvolved with order delivery. It is contemplated that the purchasedmaterial can be digital content that is immediately delivered in theform of modified aspects of the same physical location and digitalairspace that was engaged to purchase the material, which can beeffective with digital games and media accesses.

With the capability to recognize and log physical interaction of a userwith portions of a digital airspace, metrics and analytics can beefficiently computed. The algorithm 196 can be used to accumulate dataabout the movements, interactions, and purchases with one or moredigital airspaces to generate metrics like advertising effectiveness,coupon effectiveness, time viewing an advertisement, and number of usersexposed to the advertisement. These metrics, which in no way arerequired or limiting to the capabilities of the advertising algorithm196, can allow ineffective advertisements to be discovered quickly andthe content of those advertisements to be modified, which can lead tooptimized sales volume and generation of new business.

While an augmented reality device can be configured to allow a user toengage digital airspace tied to a physical location and purchase a goodor service, the device may further be configured to facilitate thepurchase of digital airspace itself. That is, the purchase software 194of an augmented reality device can generate a price, confirm a sale, andsecure a selected amount of digital airspace correlated to a particularlongitude, latitude, altitude, and time in response to a user'sinteraction with a GUI of the device or existing digital content, suchas in an auction style bidding competition. Such capabilities can allowa user to approach a physical location, see digital content in thedigital airspace associated with that physical location, and engage thedigital content to purchase the digital airspace for that physicallocation or digital airspace for a different physical location.

FIG. 7 maps an example digital airspace purchasing logic 200 performedin accordance with assorted embodiments. The logic 200 can begin with auser query either from an in-person interaction with a digital airspaceor from a remote location, such as an online platform like a websiteapplication or downloadable software on a desktop computer locateddistal to the digital airspace, for a particular longitude, latitude,altitude, and time that defines a physical location in which digitalcontent can be present via the use of an augmented reality device.

Regardless of how a user query is made, control circuitry of anaugmented reality device can poll any number of metrics pertaining tothe physical location in question, such as census 202 and market valueanalytics methodology (MVAM) 204 data, that may provide informationabout the past number of sales, unique customers, advertisingeffectiveness, proximal population, and population age that is computedalong with a variety of other informational metrics pertaining to thephysical location in question in the purchase software 206 to attain acost 208 of the digital airspace. The MVAM can be strategicallydeveloped to accurately track the incremental sales associated withspecific advertisements, which can eliminate difficulties inadvertising, such as high pricing and inaccurate evaluation.

The purchase software 206 can determine, for example, outdoor campaigneffectiveness metrics (OCEM), which are measured by the number of stepscompleted in the 3-Step analytics acquisition process that begins by auser interacting with the augmented reality advertisement. When the userinteracts with the augmented reality digital advertising content, theycan be provided a generated coupon code that can be a numerical artifactwithin the digital content coding that links the coupon code to aspecific digital content physical location that is pushed to notifythird party purchasers of the digital airspace. The user can provideactual or representative engagement with the digital content, such asthrough pointing or throwing a ball, to initiate the analyticsacquisition process by time stamping the interaction and recording thelocation of the augmented reality device at the current time.

While not limiting, various embodiments of the purchase software 206compute a variety of OCEMs like opportunities to see (OTS), impression,gross rating points, cost per thousand impressions, net reach, averagefrequency, effective reach, effective frequency, share of voice, richmedia display time, rich media interaction time, click through rate,average cost per click, average cost per order, unique viewers, andabandonment rate. These metrics can be used in isolation or together toform any number of ratios, such as impression being reach multiplied byfrequency equals number of impressions, impression to interaction ratio,revenue per advertisement, cost per customer, MVAM process completionratio, profit per advertisement, campaign effectiveness, locationeffectiveness, content effectiveness, time effectiveness, viewing deviceratio, visitor demographics, airspace value, elapsed time frominteraction to arrival, elapsed time from interaction to purchase, andelapsed time from arrival to purchase.

It should be noted that the factors that can be evaluated to render thedigital airspace cost 208 is unlimited and the selected factors shown inFIG. 7 are mere exemplary in nature. As shown, the digital airspace dataattained from the census 202 and MVAM 204 sources is correlated with abase price as well as other factors that may include at least therequested size of the digital airspace, the traffic density value of thephysical location, the content to be shown, such as 2D or interactivevideo, duration of the purchase, time of day to be active, viewingdistance, and position in relation to existing buildings and landmarks.

Specifically for traffic density, the purchase software 206 can usepopulation density, measured traffic, and estimated traffic to computean exposure potential. The exposure potential can subsequently undergo avisibility assessment where a 360° view from the digital airspace ismeasured for obstructions that can prevent content from being viewed.The computed exposure for the digital airspace in question can then beassessed a cost adjustment to accommodate higher, or lower, levels ofvisibility. With the ability to compute a number of different factorswith varying complexity together to form a digital airspace price 208,the user is receiving a fair price that seeks to optimize supply anddemand of digital airspace, especially for advertisements.

The digital airspace price 208 can consist of any number of uniquecoordinates that is determined by an algorithm that comprises any numberof factors, such as static or dynamic images, traffic density value,campaign duration, run time, and viewing distance. The number ofdimensions of displayed digital content may be computed with thecontent's programming difficulty and data usage to provide the digitalairspace's price 208. In some embodiments, real and predicted trafficdensity is given a one-to-five value that categorizes a specificphysical region, which may be proximal or distal from the physicallocation of the digital airspace, based on traffic and populationdensity. It is noted that a physical location and corresponding digitalairspace having a higher traffic density means the augmented realitydigital content will receive more exposure.

As coordinates are purchased at the computed price 208, buyers have theability to define the duration in which they would like to have rightsto display their augmented reality digital content. Such duration canrange from one day, one week, one month or one year. Buyers may alsohave the option to purchase exclusive rights to unique sets ofcoordinates, which can result in a higher price 208. In addition to thebase price algorithm utilized by the purchase software 206, there areadditional multipliers that can complete the pricing/purchasingmethodology. For instance, the amount of viewing distance the digitalcontent is viewable offers a third party the ability purchase an upgradeto a base price 208.

It is contemplated that a base price 208 corresponds, at least in part,on a visibility assessment takes a 360° panoramic image around aphysical location where the augmented reality digital content is to beplaced. The purchase software 206 can assess, out of the 360° image, howmany degrees have obstructions that prevent the digital content fromreceiving optimal exposure. The number of total obstructed degrees canbe compared to the total of 360° by the purchase software and then theratio can be applied to the base price 208 as a discount. As such, thepurchase software 206 can determine a base price 208 and subsequentlyapply discounts and multipliers to determine a final price.

The ability to purchase certain times of day and different altitudeswithin a physical location can provide a digital airspace owner with anumber of different content providing options catered to a variety ofusers. FIG. 8 generally illustrates an isometric block representation ofan example digital airspace 210 that is tied to and continuously extendswithin the bounds 212 of a physical location defined by latitude,longitude, and altitude values. The example square digital airspaceshape is possible, but not exclusive as any overall and boundary shapecan be accommodated, such as a circle and combination of linear andcurvilinear boundaries, to cater to nearly any physical location.

The purchased digital airspace 210 may be separated into multiplesub-sections 214 that continuously extend for less than all the volumewithin the airspace bounds 212. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, thedigital airspace is divided into two elevations corresponding withdifferent first 216 and second 218 altitudes. Such airspace division cancorrespond with different digital content to be published and concurrentinteractions with the different sub-sections 214. For example, the lowerelevation 196 can be configured with kids digital content conducive tochildren of a particular height while the higher elevation 218 containsdigital content intended for adults with greater heights. With theability to carve the digital airspace 210 into any number ofsub-sections 214, the airspace owner can maximize the potential ofinformation and advertisements by physically placing them where theywill receive the most exposure to an intended consumer, such as kids.

As illustrated with reference to object 220, which can be a building,landmark, tree, hill, and other natural or artificial obstruction, andsegmented portions of each sub-section 214, the digital content locatedbehind the object 220 will not be shown to a user. That is, theaugmented reality device and digital content producing server canaggregate public architectural and nature map data to create a digitalmold of the area proximal the digital airspace 210 to prevent obstructeddigital content from being visible when the object 220 is presentbetween the user and digital airspace 210. The digital mold can furtherfunction as a barrier on any architecture and natural feature todetermine if the user is indoors or outdoors. With the digital moldbeing 100% transparent and invisible to a naked human eye, but opaquefrom the perspective of technology and capable of operating seamlesslywith the digital content, the augmented reality and actual realityappear to co-exist.

The ability to customize a purchased digital airspace can provideincreased price efficiency for the cost of the digital airspace. Theability to recognize physical interaction of a user with the digitalcontent of the digital airspace further allows an augmented realitydevice to maximize the efficiency of the digital content by logging useractivity and adapting digital content to the logged activity. Forinstance, the recognition of a predetermined number of user interactionswith digital content published within a particular digital airspacewithout a purchase can result in a predetermined alteration to thedigital content, such as changing colors, available goods, and size ofdigital icons.

In other words, the visibility of augmented reality digital contentbeing displayed within purchased coordinates has many contingencies inorder to achieve optimal exposure. As a non-limiting example, digitalcontent can be made visible to the user when the distance between theuser and the content coordinates is 1,750 meters or less. At 1,750meters the digital content being viewed will appear very small and asthe distance between the user and the content decreases thesize-to-distance ratio is positively affected until the contentultimately achieves the defined purchased size, which can alter thesize, shape, and aspect ratio of the digital content.

FIG. 9 is an example recognition logic 230 that is performed inaccordance with various embodiments to facilitate a diverse array ofaugmented reality device functions with respect to a purchased digitalairspace. The logic 230 can begin with a physical action 232 from a userthat can be any number of real-world movements by a user, such as, butnot limited to, pointing, speaking, grabbing, touching, kicking, andexecuting a nod. Hence, any portion of a user's body can be used toconduct a physical action 232 to occupy empty physical space wheredigital content and digital airspace are assigned.

Without an augmented reality device capable of recognizing physicalactions of a user, such as a heads-up display, a user would be merelygesturing and not actually controlling the device or digital contentcontained in the digital airspace. In contrast, the recognitioncircuitry and software of an augmented reality device configured inaccordance with assorted embodiments allow such user actions 232 tocontrol not only the digital content resident in the digital airspacebut the augmented reality device itself. The recognition of user actionand response of digital reaction 234 can manifest any number and kindsof results, such as the transformation of the digital content andtriggering of confirmation. As a non-limiting example, a user couldphysically point at a physical location of digital airspace to selectdigital content and then grab the digital content with one or morefingers to confirm the selection before dragging the grabbed content toa predetermined area of the airspace to terminate the selection.

These exemplary actions 232 and digital reactions 234 can allow thedigital content to be reactive and adaptive to a user's will. In variousnon-limiting situations, one or more digital reactions 234 are intendedby a user to conduct a commercial purchase, which can be carried out atleast by commerce software 236 resident in an augmented reality device.The commerce software 236 can correlate recognized physical actions 232by one or more users that trigger at least one digital reaction 234 as acommercial intention that is carried out by the commerce software 236.While a commercial intention is not restricted to a particularcommercial action, the users recognized actions can correspond with apurchase of goods and services, changing of an existing order or accountsetting, return of a previously purchased item, and updating a user'spresence in the form of checking-in.

Assorted embodiments configure the commerce software 236 to contactthird-party vendors and distributors over a network to secure monetarypayment and delivery of a good and service to a user, such as through adigital or physical package delivery to a destination of the user'schoice. The commerce software 236 is not restricted to monetarytransactions as social and educational actions may also be facilitated.For example, recognition of a user's physical action 232, and thecorresponding digital reactions 234, can engage in the posting ofpictures and text to a social network as well as log in to aneducational database like the Smithsonian to inform the user aboutlandmarks and historical events in close proximity to the physicallocation corresponding to the digital airspace engaged by the user.

FIGS. 10A-10D respectively display front and side perspective blockrepresentations of an example augmented reality environment 240 in whichan augmented reality device can be practiced in accordance with assortedembodiments. The front view of FIG. 10A shows an exemplary front view ofthe augmented reality environment 240 where a screen 242 of an augmentedreality device is positioned within the field of vision of a userwithout obscuring the entirety of the user's view of the actual physicalenvironment 244. With the capabilities of the augmented reality devicediscussed above, digital content 246 can be displayed on the screen 242in association with digital airspace assigned to at least a latitude,longitude, altitude, and time to provide goods, services, information,media access, and alerts.

As shown in both FIGS. 10A and 10B, the appendage 248 of a user, whichcan be a fist, leg, foot, hip, and head without limitation, is extendedinto the digital airspace to engage the digital content 246. Through theengagement of the user's appendage 248, or another person's appendagewith authorized access, the augmented reality device can recognize thephysical action with one or more items assigned to predeterminedlocations within the digital airspace to initiate digital reactions,such as reactions 234 of FIG. 9. Attention to FIG. 10B furtherillustrates how the engagement of the digital content 246 does nothappen in the actual physical environment 244, but instead is acombination of actual physical actions by the user and application ofthose actions into the augmented, digital reality by the augmentedreality device, which is displayed via the screen 242.

With the ability to display digital content nearly anywhere due to thecapabilities of an augmented reality device, an entire world worth ofdigital content can be selectively assigned to physical locations thatotherwise would not be practical to publish digital content, like remotewilderness locations or street surfaces. Such diverse contentapplication capabilities can be particularly pertinent for advertising,especially with the user activity logging abilities of an augmentedreality device. FIG. 10C displays another view of the digital content246 when the user's field of vision is not restricted by the screen 242.That is, in the event the screen displaying the augmented realitydigital content 246 is large enough to encompass a field of vision ofthe user, the digital content 246 can occupy as much, or as little, ofthe user's vision that corresponds with the user's physical position inrelation to the digital airspace.

FIG. 10D further shows how the screen 242 is not limited to projectingdigital content 246 as existing physical features, like windows 250, canbe seen through the screen 242. As such, the screen 242 can beconfigured to be partially or completely transparent so that thephysical features within and on the opposite side of the digitalairspace from the user can be seen. As a non-limiting example, digitalcontent 246 can be displayed between the user and the window 250 with areduced opacity that allows the window 250 to be seen while theremaining digital content 246 not obstructing the window 250 is fullyopaque.

FIG. 11 provides a logical map of an example advertising methodology 260that may be used with an augmented reality device and one or more usersin some embodiments. The advertising methodology 260 can be stored andcomputed in a number of different remote and local locations that areaccessed individually or concurrently over wired and wireless networksto apply an advertising algorithm 262 to render a variety of metrics264.

The advertising algorithm 262 can be tuned to apply any number ofactual, projected, and virtual data, such as MVAM data, to cater digitalcontent to a user's real or estimated interests. The algorithm 262 mayfurther utilize at least logged information from a user's interactionswith an augmented reality, penetration of a geofence, and movement ofthe user after interacting with a digital airspace to compute therendered metrics 264 that can be used to adapt digital content to theuser. It should be noted that the advertising algorithm 262 is notlimited to a single augmented reality device and can be configured tocompile logged information from a plurality of augmented reality devicesto compute the rendered metrics 264.

Use of the various data in the advertising algorithm 262 can provide atleast the number of users accessing a certain digital airspace andgeneral airspace region as well as the number of interactions resultingfrom those accesses. For purposes of this disclosure, a digital airspaceaccess means the viewing of digital content with an augmented realitydevice while an interaction will herein be understood as the physicalcontact of an item in the digital airspace with a portion of the user'sperson. The knowledge of how many users view and subsequently interactwith a digital airspace can be used to render a success rate of thedigital content within the digital airspace, which may cause the digitalcontent to change if a predetermined success rate threshold is notmaintained.

The logging of the activity of a user, including time viewing a digitalairspace, interacting with the airspace, and movement thereafter canrender an interest level in the digital content of the digital airspace.Through the use of the interest level, digital content providers,sociologists, and behaviorists can determine a wide variety ofadvertising, social, economic, and regional data that can moreaccurately represent the people and quality of life around the digitalairspace. For example, the use of coupons to purchase luxury items alongwith above average user interactions and viewing times can indicatestrong economic stability and high levels of happiness in the user.

Configuring an augmented reality device with user position and trackingcapabilities can be useful in determining the effectiveness, appeal,strengths, and weaknesses of digital content assigned to a particulardigital airspace. The use of a geofence can provide further resolutionas to the manner in which digital content is received and interpreted bya user. FIG. 12 illustrates a top view block representation of anexample augmented reality environment 270 configured in accordance withvarious embodiments to accurately render data that can be used byadvertising algorithm to produce user and advertising metrics.

FIG. 12 shows an example geofence 272 that surrounds a selected building274 where at least one physical location and corresponding digitalairspace has been purchased and is displaying digital content. While thegeofence 272 can be shaped to any dimensions and altitudes such as alonga street 276, surrounding a building with a geofence 272 can allow auser's activity to be evaluated in relation to several digital airspaceslocations displaying digital content of different sizes, types,products, and configurations. Through continuous, sporadic, and routineuser position tracking by an augmented reality device in associationwith the geofence 272, an initial user position 278 can be logged fromwhich the user travelled into the geofence 272.

The user tracking may continuously occur once the user in inside thegeofence 272 and trigger a number of intricate calculations to be loggedabout the user's activities that otherwise would not be logged when theuser is outside the geofence 272, such as higher resolution globalposition, walking gait, time stationary, time moving, rate of movement,user orientation, and digital content interactions with one or moredigital airspaces. This type of user tracking can be logged andsubsequently recalled to indicate where the user travelled, stopped,viewed digital content, and purchased items, which are all useful indetermining the quality, success, and effectiveness of digital content.

The geofence 272 can further be utilized to initiate user prompting inrelation to logged and estimated activities. For instance, entrance intothe geofence 272 can trigger a coupon to appear on a user's augmentedreality device that directs the user to digital content inside oroutside the geofence 272 and renders advertising metrics about how theuser responds to the coupon. In another non-limiting example, loggedrecent or distant activity within the geofence 272 by a user can resultin digital content within the geofence 272 to adjust to actual orperceived tastes of the user. These exemplary geofence 272 relatedaugmented reality device activities are not required, but illustrate thesophisticated capabilities associated with comprehensive tracking ofuser activity with a predetermined physical area.

The geofence 272 can be utilized by an augmented reality device torecord the number of users that have interest in digital contentdisplayed at a physical location. The number of interactions can then becompared to number impressions for that particular digital content, suchas an advertisement. The ratio of interactions to impressions canrepresent the number of times an augmented reality device passed throughthe geofence 272 of the physical location displaying the augmentedreality content compared to the number of augmented reality devices thatinteracted with the digital content within the geofence 272.

In the event a coupon is generated prior to a user crossing the geofence272, the penetration of the geofence 272 can be time stamped to measurethe time difference for a user to interact with the augmented realitydigital content being advertised by the coupon compared to the time fromthe user's arrival at the location where the coupon directed the user.Such time stamp and ratio of interactions are not required or limiting,but are examples of how metrics can be computed and measurements can betaken by one or more augmented reality devices to provide third partydigital airspace purchasers information about the effectiveness,exposure, and value of their augmented reality digital content.

For example, a augmented reality device may inform the third party ofhow many users are exposed to their digital content, how many of thoseusers are interested, and how many users responded to the call to actionby going to the physical location where the digital content wasadvertising. Use of a coupon by the user may further indicate the valueof augmented reality digital content. The ability to monitor and measurevarious marketing and digital content metrics can allow a third partydigital content purchaser to understand the effectiveness of not only anentire digital content campaign, but the effectiveness of a singleadvertisement and how many sales the content has been linked to.

In accordance with some embodiments, an augmented reality device candetect, measure, and compute indoor interaction metrics (IIM), such asthe time an augmented reality device spends in particular areas of astore and also the number of consumer interactions with a particularphysical location to which digital content is anchored. By having theability to access to IIM, a store will be able to evaluate which areasof the store generate the most traffic and the most interactionscompared to the rest of the store. The JIM may consist of one or moreindoor customer engagement metrics (ICEM) that are unlimited in breadthand computation.

Assorted embodiments tune an augmented reality device to measure atleast opportunities to see (OTS), impression, gross rating points, costper thousand impressions, net reach, average frequency, effective reach,effective frequency, share of voice, rich media display time, rich mediainteraction time, click through rate, cost per click, cost per order,unique viewers, and abandonment rate for one or more digital airspace tocalculate at least impression to interaction ratio, revenue peradvertisement, cost per customer, MVAM process completion ratio, profitper advertisement, campaign effectiveness, location effectiveness,content effectiveness, time effectiveness, viewing device ratio, visitordemographics, airspace value, and average elapsed priority time.

With the ability to measure metrics and convey digital content in aphysical location, an augmented reality device can serve as aninteractive virtual kiosk for eCommerce based companies to have aphysical and public store front at the fraction of the cost of rentingor owning retail space. The augmented reality digital content cancorrespond with in purchased coordinates and will allow for a consumerto search the inventory, place wanted items into a cart, and check out.After completing one or more transactions via the augmented realitydevice, the online retailer would ship the products as they would if theuser purchased items online.

It is contemplated that the geofence 272 may be partially or completelyindoors. Such indoor location can pose difficulties for accurate globalpositioning as signals can lose precision due to a roof or overheadstructure. Accordingly, various embodiments can utilize an indoortriangulation, such as Bluetooth trilateration, to accurately reinforcea global positioning signal for the augmented reality device. Suchindoor triangulation means can be used when the augmented reality deviceis sensed to be indoor and can utilize one or more beacons to assigngeospatial coordinates that complement the accurate placement anddisplay of digital content at a predetermined physical location.

Although interaction of a user with digital content assigned to aparticular physical location and digital airspace is unlimited, FIG. 13provides an example digital airspace interaction routine 280 that iscarried out with at least one augmented reality device in accordancewith various embodiments. Initially, the routine 280 has digitalairspace corresponding to a particular physical location being purchasedin step 282 and subsequently loaded with digital content specific to thepurchaser. As discussed above, the augmented reality device itself or aremote access site can be used to purchase the digital airspace and loaddigital content, without limitation.

The loading of digital content into the digital airspace can result insome or all augmented reality devices to be updated with datacorresponding to the presence of digital content in the assignedphysical location. The purchaser of the digital airspace may furtherpurchase heightened advertising data to be logged for user activity bybuying a geofence region to be place around the digital airspace. Insuch an event, step 284 can subsequently log one or more augmentedreality devices entrance into the purchased geofence. Entrance of theaugmented reality device into the geofence can further trigger, such aswith a push notification to a user's mobile computing device, therecognition of physical interactions with some or all of the digitalcontent within the geofence in step 286 and logging of thoseinteractions in step 288.

The logged user activity from step 288 can be used passively to renderadvertising metrics and actively to produce coupons and change digitalcontent configurations to optimize the appeal and success changes of thedigital content. Assorted embodiments can use the logged interactions tochange the digital airspace in which digital content is displayed, whichwould correspond with step 282 purchasing more than one separate digitalairspaces. The tracking and logging of user activity in step 286 and 288can continue while decision 290 continually or routinely evaluates if apurchase has been made via the logged interactions.

If a purchase has been made, the terms of the purchase are passivelysent to the advertising algorithm to render metrics while step 292actively secures payment of the purchased item and plots purchaselogistics that may involve the shipping of a package. At the conclusionof step 292 or in the event no purchase is made from decision 290, theactivity of the augmented reality device is logged while within thegeofence in step 294. The logging of user activity may progress andcontinue even if the user exits the geofence, but is continually loggedin various embodiments that include step 294. During or after thelogging of user activity in step 294, the routine 290 can return to step286 to log physical interactions with digital content as well as sendlogged data to be processed to render advertising metrics that can beused to monitor the condition and quality of digital content within thegeofence.

Through the various aspects of routine 280, digital airspacecorresponding to a physical location can be populated with digitalcontent that is subsequently evaluated with reference to at least oneuser's activity that is tracked and logged by an augmented realitydevice providing the user with access to the digital content. Althoughthe steps and decision of routine 280 correspond to some embodiments,the content of the routine 280 is not required or limiting as anyportion can be removed and changed just as any subject matter can beadded. For example, a step may be added that specifically logs the timewhich a user spends within and the locations outside the geofence whichthe user travels immediately before and after encountering the geofence.

In view of the present disclosure, it can be appreciated that anaugmented reality device can be configured to provide sophisticatedaccess to digital content assigned to a particular physical location.The ability to convey and interact with digital content in a nearlyunlimited variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and constituent items allowsmedia, commerce, and education to be facilitated without occupyingphysical space with visual conveyances like billboards, video boards,and kiosks. Moreover, the monitoring of user activity both in thephysical world and augmented reality allows digital content to beoptimized through advertising metrics rendered from logged useractivity. As such, an augmented reality device can provide access todigital content that is continually adapting to a user's interests toprovide the most efficient conveyance of information and advertisingpossible.

With an augmented reality device configured in accordance with variousembodiments, a diverse assortment of metrics can be measured andcomputed that are similar to those currently used and standard toexisting online marketing practices. Such metrics may consist, but arenot limited to: visits, unique visitors, average page views/visits,average time on store, bounce rate, percent of new visits andconversions. In addition to the standard metrics, the augmented realitydevice can measure and compute outdoor campaign effectiveness metrics(OCEM) and indoor interaction metrics (IIM) that may respectivelyconsist of: interaction to impression ratio and evaluations of trafficand interaction generators.

It is to be understood that even though numerous characteristics andconfigurations of the present disclosure have been set forth in theforegoing description, together with details of the structure andfunction of various embodiments, this detailed description isillustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially inmatters of structure and arrangements of parts within the principles ofthe present disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad generalmeaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. Forexample, the particular elements may vary depending on the particularapplication without departing from the spirit and scope of the presenttechnology.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: positioning an augmentedreality device proximal a user, the augmented reality device comprisinga controller, memory, and at least one screen; orienting a user towardsa physical location; and displaying an augmented reality digital contenton the at least one screen, the augmented reality digital contentpositioned at the physical location and displayed on the at least onescreen only when the user is facing the physical location.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein the augmented reality digital content is anchored tothe physical location regardless of the position and orientation of theuser.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the controller alters the sizeof the augmented reality digital content in response to movement of theuser.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the physical location isconfined within a volume of airspace, the volume of airspace defined byat least set of coordinates each comprising a longitude, latitude, andaltitude.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one screenpositioned in a mobile computing device.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein a portion of the augmented reality digital content is hiddenbehind a physical structure positioned between the user and the physicallocation.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the portion of the augmentedreality digital content is revealed in response to the user having aclear line of sight around the physical structure.
 8. A methodcomprising: positioning an augmented reality device proximal a user, theaugmented reality device comprising a controller, memory, and at leastone screen; orienting a user towards a physical location; displaying anaugmented reality digital content on the at least one screen, theaugmented reality digital content positioned at the physical locationand displayed on the at least one screen only when the user is facingthe physical location; and recognizing a physical engagement of theaugmented reality digital content with an interaction circuit connectedto the controller.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the interactioncircuit comprises at least one sensor.
 10. The method of claim 8,wherein the physical engagement comprises a hand of the user occupying aportion of the physical location.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein thephysical engagement comprises a representative item occupying a portionof the physical location.
 12. The method of claim 8, wherein thephysical engagement comprises a spoken command from the user.
 13. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the controller correlates predeterminedphysical actions of the physical engagement to articulation of theaugmented reality digital content.
 14. The method of claim 13, whereinthe articulation comprises modifying the size, shape, or content of theaugmented reality digital content.
 15. A method comprising: positioningan augmented reality device proximal a user, the augmented realitydevice comprising a controller, memory, and at least one screen;orienting a user towards a physical location; displaying an augmentedreality digital content on the at least one screen, the augmentedreality digital content positioned at the physical location anddisplayed on the at least one screen only when the user is facing thephysical location; and purchasing a product or service in response to arecognized physical engagement of the augmented reality digital contentby the user.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the purchasing of theproduct or service corresponds with the controller accessing a digitalwallet stored on a remote server.
 17. The method of claim 16, whereinthe purchasing of the product automatically ships the product to anaddress stored on the remote server.
 18. The method of claim 15, whereinthe purchasing of the product or service is delivered immediately to theuser.
 19. The method of claim 15, wherein the recognized physicalengagement is a gesture by the user that occupies a portion of thephysical location.
 20. The method of claim 15, wherein the identity ofthe user is authorized by the controller prior to the purchasing of theproduct or service.